Coming in the wake of recent efforts to end the cruel practice of captivity for whales, dolphins, and porpoises in North America, a bill currently in Canada’s Senate, S-203 (the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act), would phase out captivity of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in the entire country, with the exception of rescue and rehabilitation to return them to the wild.

The discovery of yet another dead endangered North Atlantic right whale off Virginia brings the loss to a total of 18 dead since April, a devastating blow to the species during a year when only five calves were born.

On Tuesday there was an important vote in the European Parliament Fisheries Committee about fisheries conservation measures including future bycatch measures for dolphins, porpoises and whales. Here is a summary of what happened in the vote on bycatch.

Today (on Tuesday afternoon), MEPs from across Europe will vote on a range of fisheries measures aimed to conserve fish stocks, habitats and protected species. The vote will include measures to protect dolphins, porpoises and whales, as well as seabirds, seals and turtles, from incidental entanglement in fishing gear.